Chapter Four - It All Makes Sense In The End
Hey guys! I'm back, with another update! I'm super excited for this chapter, because we'll be getting some answers from the wonderful Jared about the Grimm curse! :D Also, I'm gonna say thank you to Evx and 09Who knew90 for the wonderful reviews that keep this story going. c: They mean so much to me, and definitely inspire me to continue my writing on here. c; You two are super amazing!
Evx : Thanks! I'm super excited to have evil Godmothers in the story. c: I'm also glad you find Nix and Nan being siblings interesting. I liked doing that, as I feel it makes things even more fun. c: I'll be excited to see if you do end up hating him or not! Personally, I don't hate him with the route I'm taking, but whether or not you guys feel the same way will be interesting! :3
09Who knew90 : Thanks! I'm glad that this chapter was excellent, that the characters were amazing (that always makes me super happy that I portrayed people well), and that there was no rushing (I especially wanted to try and not have that, so I'm super happy that was fixed!). :D I'm glad that you liked Nix popping up. I love him a lot too. c: He's right below Teague/Jared (I have them on the same tier book wise, although Jared in my fanfictions tends to be below Teague) on my list for the guys in An Unfortunate Fairytale. As for the deja vu, it doesn't have to do with her meeting Prince Teague. c; However, it is from when she was a little girl. c: I'm glad it's stumping you a little bit though! That let's me know that I'm doing a good job! :D And agh, the typosssss. I always manage to miss a few of those, but I'm glad they were hardly noticeable! As for updates, I've decided I'm going to focus on a specific story each week. So, until this coming Tuesday, I'll just be updating this story, as I've found I seem to not rush the chapters and that I make them longer whenever I'm only updating one story. Hopefully that won't be too agonizing for my other stories, as I know some have some drama going on in them!
Anyways, let's go on with the story!
"Really?" I decide to ignore the fact that he is frustrated with my mom - mainly because I could go on for hours and hours about everything she does that frustrates me - and focus on my excitement about actually learning something about this curse. "Do you mean it?"
"Why would I say it if I didn't, Princess?" I leave him be for calling me that this time, although the odd sense of deja vu creeps up again.
"Alright! Should I start asking you questions, then?" I tilt my head as I ask, but he shakes my head, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
"Not here. It may be protected from random Fae wondering in and trying to get you, but the Godmothers might be able to break through the shield. I want to go to somewhere more protected." He stands up, and heads for the door.
"The...Godmothers?" I frown, confused by why he sounds so worried about them. They sound like they would be good, after all. "Those sound like good people."
He chuckles, but it's not a nice one. It's rather bitter instead. "You would think they were, but they aren't. I know of a place that they can't get into though, and it'll allow us to talk freely. That way, we don't have to worry about anymore people trying to do what Templestiltskin did-"
"Templestiltskin was a Godmother?" I stood up to follow him, but now I hesitate.
"Yes. Now do you understand the danger? He wasn't very powerful, and I only just found out that he was one. However, there's no doubt that others will follow until your sixteenth birthday. There's someone at your school too, so I suggest you be careful. I'm still trying to figure out who."
"Wait, what?" My jaw drops.
"No more questions right now. I'm going to take you to the safe place. Come on." He opens the door for me, and takes my hand.
Mina's Point of View
"You have a lot of explaining to do, buster." I stop short, and Jared almost loses his grip on my hand when I do. In front of us is a black motorcycle, the real reason I stopped short. "However, I don't know if I'm willing to get any of that explanation, seeing as I'm sure you're expecting me to get on that."
"You don't have to talk to it like that." He almost sounds offended. I have to stop myself from laughing, so that I can stay horrified and not get distracted. "And yes, I do expect you to get on this. But it's perfectly safe."
"Perfectly safe?" I laugh at that. "Motorcycles aren't safe!"
"Do you trust me?" Jared raise an eyebrow.
"What does that have to do with anything?" I respond, using my free hand to express myself a bit as I talk. I prefer to talk with my hands.
"Everything. I'm your guardian. I need you to trust me. If you trust me, you'll trust that I'll keep you safe on this motorcycle." His arguments make sense, I just don't want to admit it.
"I barely even know you." I counter. "I only talked to you, what, four days ago? How am I supposed to trust you?" And yet, I did when I was in trouble with Templestiltskin. Something pushed me to trust him, and I have no idea what. So, I decide not to bring that up.
"That's not t-" He stops mid-sentence, rubbing the back of his neck and then finishing. I can tell he meant to say something else though. But what? "That's not the point. If you're ever going to trust me, we need to start now."
"I won't have to trust you for long if I do end up trusting you." I point out in response to this new argument. "In ten days time, it's likely I'll never see you again."
Again, he looks like he'd like to argue, and I have to admit I'm becoming more and more confused by the minute. What does he know that he's refusing to tell me? Because it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Grimm curse. Will he explain it if we ever go to the 'safe place'? That fact makes going more enticing. However, the danger of getting on that motorcycle still makes me hesitant.
"Look, if you want to know anything about the Grimm curse and be able to become any more prepared, you have to come with me." He releases my hand, walks over to the motorcycle, and then extends his hand to me again. "Your choice."
I stand there for maybe three minutes trying to way the danger in either direction. In the end, danger of not knowing and the agony of not knowing win out over the potential to crash, and I walk over to him. However, I don't take his hand, although he doesn't seem to mind all that much.
"Good. Glad you made the smart decision there, Princess." He gives me a grin, letting me know that he used the nickname for the purpose of annoying me this time. The little twerp! He gets me to put on a helmet - although he doesn't, which is even more worrying - and then has me climb on after him. However, his instructions make me stop short yet again. "Now, hug my waist."
"Excuse me?" I raise an eyebrow, and decide in my head that I'm not going to do it.
"I'm not trying to come up for a reason for you to hug me, Princess." I can hear him rolling his eyes in his voice, although I'm not sure how. It sounds so familiar in the oddest way - I think the deja vu feeling has climbed back into my stomach - but I've never heard him use this tone before. Have I? "I'm suggesting you do it for your own safety. That is why you were so worried about this, isn't it? Safety?"
"When you put it like that, fine." Sighing, I wrap my arms around his waist, and the moment he starts I'm glad I did.
I think he's going illegally fast, and I grip his waist even tighter. Given what I know about Jared, there's no doubt he's enjoying this. He might even be enjoying how terrified I am by this. However, because of the illegal speed, we do get there faster than we would've had we been following the law, so I'm not sure that it would've been better to be on the motorcycle longer but actually be following the law.
I don't waste any time and I'm off the motorcycle in maybe five seconds flat, pulling my helmet off. Jared looks rather amused as he parks the vehicle properly and climbs off after me. I toss the helmet at him, almost hoping it'll hit him to get him back for him terrifying me, but he catches it with ease. Oh well. At least I tried.
"And here we are." Jared gestures around us, and I finally take the time to look away from the road to look at the area around us.
We're by a pond, and it's actually a pretty clear pond, at least by the shore. In between the pond and where we're standing our some logs, arranged in a circle around what appears to be a fire pit. It's not a super amazing place, and I'm honestly a bit confused by it all.
"This is the safe place from the Godmothers?" I raise an eyebrow. "I don't even know who they are, but if they're Fae, how on earth is this place safe from them?"
"Because only people - humans or Fae - who have been allowed by Prince Teague can enter. Don't ask me how he did it though, because that is too complicated to explain." The last part is added just in time, because I almost asked that.
So, instead, I ask a different question. "When did the Prince gives us permission?"
He taps his foot impatiently, and instead of answering the question, asks one of his own. "Do you want to know what's going on, or not?"
"I do, I do!" My response comes quickly, because I don't want to miss this chance.
"Then calm down on the questions, and let me at least get the basic knowledge into your hands." Jared looks at the pretty much clear, blue sky. "We have plenty of time, so once this is all done I'll get you back home, and you can finish your boring homework. Alright?" I nod, and he continues. "Let's sit down on the logs, okay?"
"Okay." I walk over, and sit down on the nearest one, facing the fire pit.
Jared walks over to the one across from me - on the other side of the pit, facing the road - and sits down with his legs crossed. He rests his elbows on his knees, claps his hands together, and rests his chin on them for a moment, as if he's examining me. For what, I'm not sure, but I don't say anything about it, seeing as even the examination is making me feel nervous. Bringing it up would be awkward.
After maybe a minute, he switches to a more natural position, and the examination feeling stops. "Before we begin, I want to lay down one rule." His face is pretty much void of emotion, which confuses me. But, yet again, I don't ask, mainly because I'm too nervous to. "No interruptions. Got it?"
"But what i-" I begin, but Jared holds up a hand to stop me.
"No interruptions." He repeats, and I sigh, nodding my head to show that I understand. "I'll start at the beginning then."
However, before he starts, he stands up. It actually pikes my curiosity as to why he does it, and I open my mouth to ask, although I quickly shut it. I can't interrupt. I have to remember that while he's talking.
"Along time ago, it was decided that all the eligible girls from many different kingdoms that were close to the Prince's age would be brought to compete for Prince Teague's hand in marriage." As he talks, he paces, and I listen intently as I watch him. "King Lucian and Queen Maeve had originally given him the ability to choose, but he had no interest in getting married, so he missed the chance to pick himself. He would become a Fate one day, and ruling as sole Fate on the Fae plane would be too much for anyone. It would kill the entire Fae plane, not to mention the Fate." He pauses, taking a deep breathe and adding. "The Fates are the rulers of the Fae plane, and the Fae plane are where most of the Fae live, although quite a few have come here, to the human plane. Are you following me so far?"
I nod my head, and keep my comments to myself, seeing as this story doesn't seem to be close to finished yet.
Seeming satisfied that I am telling the truth about understanding everything so far - and I am - Jared continues. "So, many eligible ladies, princesses, and overall 'high society' girls came to try and win Prince Teague's hand in marriage." He almost sounds disgusted as he says this, and I can't help but wonder if he was there when this all happened. Is he a close friend with Prince Teague? If he is, why was he chosen to come to the human plane and guard me? "There were hundreds of girls that showed up, but the Prince rejected most of them. In the end, only twelve were asked to stay longer and move on to the next rounds. One of these was a girl named Willa Grimm." I have to keep myself from gasping. My ancestor was in a competition to marry a Prince? "She was a siren, just like you are. In fact, she was the princess of the sirens. Princess Willa Grimm. She didn't look much different than you, and she did manage to catch Prince Teague's attention. All of the the girls that stayed did. However, Willa - along with two others - were working for an underground, rebellion group known as the Godmothers."
The good feeling I got hearing about Willa fades, replaced by a sour feeling. "What exactly are the Godmothers?"
Jared looks a bit irritated as he pauses to look at me, and I realize I've interrupted. "The Godmothers were, as I said, a secret rebellion group. They still are, actually. They disapprove of the way the Fae plane is run, and feel that the Fates should be removed from power, along with their descendants." He's really upset about this. He's certainly extremely loyal to Prince Teague, and the Fates. "Willa, along with two other girls named Ferah and Ever, had joined their cause, and were sent to try and assassinate Prince Teague." The name Ever sounds familiar, although I'm not quite sure why. I'll focus on that later.
"Ferah was discovered right away, in a test by blood. She was sent off to be killed. Ever and Willa, however, passed, and Willa eventually saved Ferah's life from a Reaper. And, as the contest progresses, began to change her opinion on the whole matter. She actually found herself falling in love with the prince, and when it came down to the final four, was the one who completed the race through the maze. However, Ferah arrived, nearly killing the Prince - who Willa healed - and exposing Willa."
"What?" I gasp the words out, but Jared sighs at the interruption.
"It gets worse, Princess."
And we'll be finding out the rest of the story next chapter! What do you guys think about all of this so far? Was this chapter good? I'm going to sleep, or I'd maybe write some more here/in the chapter itself. This ending is good though!
Until next time!
~ Dagger